1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of generating a knitting structure model of a knit fabric within a virtual three-dimensional space created on a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A knit fabric is formed by combining several knitting patterns, such as a tuck and a knit. Accordingly, it is conventional to assign symbols representing the respective knitting patterns and to express the structure of a knit fabric by aligning these symbols. Symbols known as those representing basic knitting patters are, for example, a list of the knitting stitch symbols specified by the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).
WO 03/032204 discloses a technique by which a two-dimensional image is generated by choosing images of knitting stitches prepared in modular forms from the library and multiple layers are laminated using the two-dimensional image as one layer so as to simulate a knit fabric.
However, to imagine what type of knit fabric will be knitted from the knitting stitch symbols requires considerable experiences and knowledge, and it is difficult to exert imagination unless an individual is well experienced in knit fabrics. Also, the technique of Patent Document 1 is merely to choose images of knitting stitches prepared in modular forms from the library, and WO 03/032204 fails to run a simulation that includes and considers physical characteristics applied to every single yarn. It is therefore impossible to generate a realistic knitting structure model.